Meet Besha, the Redfoot

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
My name is Alex (Alexander) and I've been "read-only user" of the forum for a long-time. And finally, I've decided to make an introductory post on a positive note (before my tort gone exploring the island or got sick).
So far, we live in Cyprus. Where "we" - are my family and our much adored Red-footed tortoise Besha (named after BMW cars, since she is "fast and expensive in maintenance").
I'm incredibly lucky to find this forum and very grateful to all of the members who share their experience, ask questions and have great sense of humour I have to personally thank Tom for the life-changing quote: "I don't want them to survive, I want them to thrive". It has really set the motif for owning a tortoise. (Mentioning Tom doesn't mean I forgot about all the other great people such as ZEROPILOT, TechnoCheese, RedfootNERD and many others!).

Besha is 6 years old now (as told by the pet shop guy) and she's part of our family for 1 year. That was enough for me to develop heavy and incurable stage of "tort anxiety" (yes, you probably know - you can't leave your tort alone in peace and always thinking about temperature, humidity, diet, enrichments and can't stop yourself from "improving" the tort's life).

I might post more details on keeping her later (especially, if anyone's interested), but here's the small overview:
1. Whenever possible she's kept at the balcony (about 20 x 6 feet). There are hides, "multi-layer" shade, plants and all that stuff. However, she prefers to stay out of the "plantboxes" and soil and cardboard box is her favourite place (maybe she's an "urban girl", maybe "tortoise know something" as it's the part of the balcony which gets morning sun first and less heat during the day).
2. Now as the winter is coming, I bring her for a "night stand" to the indoor enclosure. It's a closed-type enclosure made out of the plastic IKEA outdoor closet (6 x 2.5 feet, 1 feet height (doh!) ), which seemed liked a great idea but actually is far from being perfect (but at least I have stable temperature of 86 F and 90+% humidity)
3. Besha has some signs of MBD from how her carapace looks and how she walks. I can only hope it didn't get worse since we've got her. Her plastron is damaged probably because of the shell rot. It doesn't make her any less cute, though ) She weights about 610 grams which is a bit worrying (although she eats and poops (no. she POOPS) without any issues)
4. Cyprus is not a paradise for the redfoots (I wish I knew it beforehand). On the bright side: we have a lot of seasonal fruit, vegetables and greens (and yes, hell lot of opuntia), on the opposite: cold winters (40-50F) and hot summers (up to 100+F). Humidity is not optimal as well, 50% on average, so soaks are a must (whether she likes them or not )

 

[TammyJ]

Hi, glad you finally decided to introduce yourself and Besha. Hopefully with proper care as recommended here, she will thrive!

 

[TechnoCheese]

Welcome to the forum! Besha is very cute.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello and welcome
Exposure to some sunlight, as you are providing, will end progression of any MBD. (If your RF has that)
Upping the ambient humidity will also stop the pyramiding of his shell.
Watch the indoor enclosure temperature. It's within the range of 80 to 88. But your target is 82 to 84.
Do not allow the temps to creep much into the 90s.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Now a few (well, not actually a few) words on her enclosures.

Here is her indoors one. As mentioned before it's made out of the IKEA outdoors closet (RUNMARO model, 200 x 80cm x 44cm - 6.5 x 2.5 x 1.5 ft).

On the good side:
1. It's made of PP plastic so it doesn't rot and keeps humidity well.
2. It's easy to put any screws, fixtures and so on inside.
3. There are shelves which can be used to split enclosure (e.g. for hatchlings) or as building blocks to rise enclosure's height.
4. It's opaque, so it can be put in a living room with lights, kids and TV and it won't bother tort's sleep.

On the bad side:
1. Plastic is really soft, so "fully packed" enclosure is hard to move around. Doors with lightning and heating fixtures bend a little.
2. Bottom side (back side) is made of some "cardboard-like" plastic sheets which simply cannot hold the weight of the bedding and such. So you need to put something else on top of it.
3. It's small (but there is no such thing as "large" enclosure for tortoises). I'm okay with that as intend to use it only for the coldest days and night box.
4. Low height (especially, when you put some bedding inside). So you have either opt-in for the low profile lightning/heating setup (RHPs, LED lights) or to raise the height (e.g. with greenhouse top, included shelves and so on).

I've used 0.75 inch EVA floor mats to cover the enclosure's bottom and niches in the walls and ceiling for the thermal insulation. Yet I would not recommend to use it for the following reasons:
1. The "real" thermal insulation keeps heat better.
2. Nothing sticks to it. Duct tapes, silicone, "heavy duty glue", 30-second super glue and etc. simply falls of this panels once you release your hands.
3. The ones I have are "too much green" and under the bright light they give green hue all over the enclosure.

Heating:
1. I have two 0.75 x 2 ft heat panels mounted on enclosure's ceiling (covering most of the enclosure's length). They are sold as "infrared self-adhesive knee warmers". Each weights less that 1 kg and less then 0.5 inch thin and comes with a rheostat (so I can adjust maximal panel's temperature). Right now they are set on the lowest setting (surface temperature of 100F, confirmed by temperature gun) and plugged into thermostat which is set for 84F. Temperature/humidity graph is attached (the left part of the graph is a day time when Besha is walking outside and thermostat is off and lids are open).

Lightning:
1. Ambient lights are two 22W Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED bars placed in the same half of the enclosure (so one enclosure's half is a shady one and the other half is brightly lit).
2. The UVB source is a Arcadia ShadeDweller 7% 8W T5HO lamp placed in-between the ambient light ones. For this enclosure's height it seems like the right fit (can't convince myself to get a Solarmeter to be sure, though). It's somewhat redundant, considering low UVB requirements for redfoots and availability of natural sunlight even in the winter days.

Bedding:
ZooMed Forest Floor, about 4 inches tall. It's basicaly a cypress (no, not Cyprus!) mulch. I've tried to get orchid bark or pine bark from the hardware and garden stores here yet without luck (it's all made of Maritime Pine and smells *really* strong).

Plants:
1. One plastic fern to cover "humid hide's" entrance. Besha gets really nervous if I remove it
2. Two spider plants just because I had them.
3. I'm looking forward to place "plant wall pockets" around the enclosure with something like pothos plant, ferns and such - this should provide enough greenery and shade without sacrificing walking space.
Here is the link to some photos of the enclosures:

+3

Besha's Enclosures

• Alex and the Redfoot
• Oct 8, 2023
• 12

. Would be happy to hear any suggestions, ideas and so.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Not so much to add on the outdoor enclosure. It's the southside balcony with lots of sun during the day (this help to keep Besha outside longer). The "planter" boxes here are made of OCB board lined with "mulching film" (much like plastic bag material with one side black and the other one - silver). Each one is 4x2 ft. They are made small and movable for purpose (next summer I move them to the northern side balcony where is less sun, more shade and is cooler overall).
Bedding is the mix of coco coir, pine bark with a bit of top soil. I've failed to grow dense festuca grass this summer, but still have a hope. Only fern is thriving right now (its stems are everywhere far beyond it's pot).
There are two hibiscus plants and a mulberry one - for food and shade.
Shading is made of plant boxes covers, big outdoors umbrella and on the hot days I add a shade sale as another shade layer. Of cause there are big and small hides everywhere (with small cardboard box being the favourite of all).
I still struggle so leave some space for myself on the balcony (so it's only partially a garden) and it seems that Besha prefer to rest and walk on the slate floor as well. The slate has some texture - it's not as rough as raw concrete and is not slippery as well.
Our yard is a bare-bones concrete space without trees, grass and a pool in the middle, so balcony seems to be a better option now. Also, rats and stray cats are not an issue on the balcony and it's easier to fight with hordes of ants there.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I like that a LOT BETTER than I thought I would.
It's both attractive and seems totally adequate for what you need.
You're correct that a RF needs a bit less UVB. The temperature. The humidity and a balanced and varied diet are top priorities.
From what you've provided us. I think that you are actually way ahead of the learning curve. And you're doing well.
Congratulations on that!
An occasional stroll outside on that bare cement will be beneficial for nail management and the sunlight is a great thing for overall health. Just make sure to ALWAYS provide supervision outside. ESPECIALLY if it is particularly hot on the concrete.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Thank you! I'm extremely happy to hear that!
I wish my tortoise could say the same about my efforts

I like that a LOT BETTER than I thought I would.
It's both attractive and seems totally adequate for what you need.
You're correct that a RF needs a bit less UVB. The temperature. The humidity and a balanced and varied diet are top priorities.
From what you've provided us. I think that you are actually way ahead of the learning curve. And you're doing well.
Congratulations on that!
An occasional stroll outside on that bare cement will be beneficial for nail management and the sunlight is a great thing for overall health. Just make sure to ALWAYS provide supervision outside. ESPECIALLY if it is particularly hot on the concrete.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I absolutely love New members that are so willing to soak up all of the free information to make their tortoises lives better.

 

[Jennpaints]

Besha is adorable! Welcome to posting here